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U.S. retailers to host pre-orders for select toys for 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'

As fans around the world count down to Solo: A Star Wars Story's debut on May 25, Lucasfilm unveiled product collections inspired by the highly-anticipated Star Wars film. The cross-category assortment spans action figures, role-play products, apparel and more that take inspiration from the upcoming movie, with comic and book titles launching in May. Retailers in the U.S. including Amazon (AMZN), Walmart (WMT), and shopDisney.com (DIS) will host pre-orders for select toys beginning April 9, with additional product available at mass retailers, Disney store, shopDisney.com and Disney Parks starting on April 13 and rolling out through May.

KeyBanc analyst Brent Bracelin says the AWS Summit SF exposed an even greater focus by Amazon (AMZN) Web Services on cloud automation. The analyst believes the "cloud wars" in 2018 appear to be moving from a battle of "features" seen in the last two years toward a new battle of "automation." Bracelin sees Automation as having three major benefits for AWS: it can drive material cost savings, it saves developers time, and it serves as a competitive differentiator versus Microsoft Azure (MSFT) and Google Cloud (GOOG; GOOGL). Bracelin reiterates a Sector Weight rating on Amazon's shares.

Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak weighed in on the tax and USPS debates facing Amazon (AMZN) following the President's recent tweets, saying that he sees online sales tax legislation as probable, but also believe it is manageable for the company. On the issue, he thinks this isn't new for Amazon and if anything sees it as a bigger risk to eBay (EBAY) and third party sellers. On the company's relationship with the USPS, Nowak said he views it as mutually beneficial and while he see the USPS asking for higher rates he also expect negotiations to be "rational." If the USPS asks for material increases, Amazon may be forced to increase its 2018/2019 last mile build, which is likely to weigh on near-term profitability, added Nowak, who keeps an Overweight rating and $1,500 price target on the stock.

04/05/18

UBSW

04/05/18NO CHANGEUBSW

Amazon contract profitable for USPS, former Postmaster General tells UBS

UBS hosted an expert call with Patrick Donahoe, former Postmaster General at the USPS, given confusion around rhetoric coming out of Washington D.C. regarding Amazon's relationship with the USPS, and press reports indicating this contract expires in October 2018. On the call, Donahoe unequivocally stated that the Amazon contract is profitable for the USPS, UBS said. The firm pointed out that USPS business is primarily split into two areas, namely market-dominant products/"monopoly mail," and competitive products where Amazon would fall. By law, competitive products must cover their costs, including both operating costs associated with the service provided and an allocation of 5.5% of the USPS's institutional/fixed costs, the firm added in a research note this morning.

04/06/18

MKMP

04/06/18NO CHANGETarget $96MKMPNeutral

Hasbro price target lowered to $96 from $110 at MKM Partners

MKM Partners analyst Eric Handler lowered his price target on Hasbro (HAS) to $96, saying the company's earnings will see a bigger impact from the liquidation of Toys R Us than the previous forecast. The analyst also notes headwinds for the company coming from tight inventory management at mass retailers Wal-Mart (WMT) and Amazon (AMZN). Handler adds that he has broader industry concerns, but sees some mitigating product launches for Hasbro, including a new Nerf brand launch, expanded Baby Alive product lines, continued strength from Marvel, and the possible digital launch of Magic: The Gathering Arena. The analyst keeps his Neutral rating on Hasbro.

WMTWalmart

$86.69

-1.12 (-1.28%)

04/05/18

LOOP

04/05/18INITIATIONTarget $92LOOPHold

Walmart initiated with a Hold at Loop Capital

Loop Capital analyst Andrew Wolf started Walmart with a Hold rating and $92 price target. In a research note partially titled "The Best of Times, The Worst of Times," the analyst says that while he's bullish on the long-term outlook for Walmart as an omni-channel retailer, he views 2018 as an investment year. He believes driving market share and building scale in e-commerce will take precedence over earnings gains this year.

04/06/18

04/06/18INITIATION

On The Fly: Top five analyst initiations

Catch up on today's top five analyst initiations with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Walmart (WMT) initiated with a Hold at Loop Capital. 2. Hanesbrands (HBI) initiated with a Neutral at BofA/Merrill. 3. Commercial Metals (CMC) initiated with a Buy at Longbow. 4. WageWorks (WAGE) resumed with a Hold at Needham. 5. Werner (WERN) resumed with a Buy at Stifel. This list is just a portion of The Fly's analyst coverage. To see The Fly's full Street Research coverage, click here.

04/04/18

BERN

04/04/18NO CHANGEBERN

Walmart interest in PillPack an acceleration of sector disruption,says Bernstein

Bernstein analyst Lance Wilkes notes that CNBC reported that Walmart (WMT) is in talks to acquire online pharmacy startup PillPack for less than $1B. Amazon (AMZN) was also reported to be interested in acquiring PillPack, he adds. Wilkes sees this as an acceleration of disruption efforts in the drug supply chain with both Amazon and now Walmart enabling a shift to online pharmacy.

DISDisney

$100.35

-1.76 (-1.72%)

03/14/18

MACQ

03/14/18UPGRADEMACQOutperform

Sky upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie

Macquarie analyst Guy Peddy upgraded Sky (SKYAY) to Outperform from Neutral after he raised his FY19/20 and FY20/21 EPS by about 16% due to the lower EPL costs. His valuation analysis suggests the current 1075p offer from 21st Century Fox (FOXA) "materially undervalues" Sky and even Comcast's (CMCSA) indicative offer at 1250p "fractionally undervalues" it, Peddy tells investors. What happens next is up to Comcast and Disney (DIS), as Fox is just an intermediary, he added. Peddy raised his price target on Sky shares to 1450p, as he believes tension between those two could lift the offer price at least 10% above his fair value estimate of 1287p.

03/15/18

LOOP

03/15/18INITIATIONTarget $43LOOPBuy

21st Century Fox initiated with a Buy at Loop Capital

Loop Capital analyst Alan Gould started 21st Century Fox (FOXA) with a Buy rating and $43 price target. The analyst believes the company is set up as the "ideal acquisition target for either Disney (DIS) or Comcast (CMCSA) as they evolve their video businesses into a global, direct-to-consumer streaming service."

03/15/18

LOOP

03/15/18INITIATIONTarget $130LOOPBuy

Disney initiated with a Buy at Loop Capital

Loop Capital analyst Alan Gould started Disney (DIS) with a Buy rating and $130 price target. The analyst views the Disney/21st Century Fox (FOXA) deal as a "win/win," positioning Disney to be a more competitive player in the global streaming business.

BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield believes Disney (DIS) has the content and balance sheet strength to "win" the streaming wars against Netflix (NFLX) and others if it were willing to go "all-in" on digital, but the company appears unwilling to do so. By "all-in," Greenfield says he means making every new theatrical release from Disney available on their streaming service day and date with its theatrical release. Such an aggressive strategy would be how Disney could 'win the streaming wars, rather than dipping their toe in the water of streaming while trying to "milk" their legacy business models,' Greenfield contends in a new note to investors.